Tag: Suffering Is An Attribute of Belief - Psalm 42-44

Psalms 44:17-22

All this has come upon us,

though we have not forgotten you,

and we have not been false to your covenant.

Our heart has not turned back,

nor have our steps departed from your way;

yet you have broken us in the place of jackals

and covered us with the shadow of death.

If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

would not God discover this?

For he knows the secrets of the heart.

Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

Tag: Suffering Is An Attribute of Believers

We spend the majority of our time on earth trying to avoid suffering.  We purposefully purchase goods and services to prevent suffering.  We don’t mind suffering if we can control it.  We suffer in the gym just so we look and feel better.  But, we control how long that type of suffering lasts.  We don’t like medical and health suffering.  We look for doctors and hospitals to keep us from it.  Whenever we suffer, we look for the cause and then attempt to eradicate it.   This is why the suffering mentioned above is so egregious.   The writer of Psalm 42 (The Sons of Koran) seem to claim that the current suffering they are experiencing is NOT because of some sin in their lives, but rather (vs. 22) because “on a account of Yahweh” we are sheep ready for slaughter.   God has given us the position to suffer for Him and in Him.  This is primarily a NT concept, but here it is, taught in the Psalms.   In fact, in Acts 8 this very passage is used by Philip to lead the Ethiopian traveler to Christ.   Suffering is NOT a foreign concept to followers of God.    Christ ultimately suffering the worst.  Should His children be less?   We are as “sheep” ready for slaughter for Him.   We may not like it, but that is the thought taught here.   The Sons of Koran are NOT claiming complete innocence.  However, they are saying, that their current status is not due to their failings, but, rather their following.   Followers of God will suffer ... as sheep ready for slaughter.  But, we can rejoice in the fact that God will use this to bring glory to Himself and to us.